Sinopacific books first domestic OSV orders

Sinopacific SP85 AHTS design

JULY 29, 2014 — China’s Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group yesterday signed a contract with Shenzhen Huawei Offshore Shipping Transport Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Shanghai Salvage Company, for the construction of five offshore vessels.

All five are being built to Sinopacific SP designs from the SP brand. Three will be SPA85L design AHTS vessels and two will be SPP35ML platform supply vessels are design. They are set to deliver from Sinopacic’s Zhejiang Shipbuilding Co., Ltd from February 2016 until the end of 2016.

The contract is Sinopacific’s first domestic order for offshore vessels, which has previously been building them exclusively for oversea owners, and marks its first cooperation with China Classification Society (CCS).

After delivery, the new vessels will be used for deepwater oil exploration in the South China Sea.

Both ship types ordered are customized versions existing Sinopacific designs. During the research and development stages, Shanghai Design Associates (SDA), a branch of Sinopacific specializing in OSV design, applied lessons learned from similar ship designs and added innovative technologies in order to create new generation vessels.

Both the SPA85L and SPP35ML make use of AFE propulsion systems which further promotes their energy-saving capabilities.

With a pull of 85 mt, overall length of 70.81 m, breadth of 16.00 m, deadweight of 2,800mt, maximum service speed of 13 knots and accommodations for 48 persons, the SPA85L design has been constructed on the basis of Sinopacific’s SPA80 design.

The main dimensions of SPA85L have been optimized for South China Sea operation, and the molded depth and freeboard have been increased compared to a conventional AHTS. In the SPA85L design, particular focus has been given to the vessel’s “Supply” function of the vessel whereby the deck area has been enlarged.

The SPP35ML is an upgraded version of the original SPP35, an energy-saving and environment-friendly vessel that, in 2013, was named as one of seven Classic Vessels of 2013 by Marine Log.

The SPP35ML vessel is 81.75 m long, 17.20 m wide, 7.80 m in depth mould and has deadweight of 4,000 mt. The deck area covers 809 sq.m and the vessel offers a maximum service speed of 14 knots and accommodations for 41 persons.